I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

The last theme posted was escape into fantasy for revision season. I make some links thematic, some topical, some more English-y. Please do let me know if you have ideas/suggestions/requests for future possible links.

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-27-revision-season-escapism-3-historical/feed/02004http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-27-revision-season-escapism-3-historical/Reading Recommendations Slide 26: Revision Season Escapism 2 – Fantasyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/Q0TOWe2QO7E/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-26-revision-season-escapism-2-fantasy/#commentsSun, 22 Apr 2018 18:00:35 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1997Continue reading "Reading Recommendations Slide 26: Revision Season Escapism 2 – Fantasy"]]>This half term, all my recommendations will focus on reading for pleasure, relaxation and escapism during revision season. This week I’m offering three titles featuring fantasy worlds, all of which have at least one sequel to get stuck into (and the one that is ‘only’ a duology are classic fantasy big fat books, so plenty of reading there!

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

The last theme posted was for fans of the Big Bang Theory. I make some links thematic, some topical, some more English-y. Please do let me know if you have ideas/suggestions/requests for future possible links.

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-24-witches/feed/01985http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-24-witches/Reading Recommendations Slide 23: For Fans of The Big Bang Theoryhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/9gGPc8262wc/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-23-for-fans-of-the-big-bang-theory/#commentsTue, 13 Mar 2018 15:05:06 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1977Continue reading "Reading Recommendations Slide 23: For Fans of The Big Bang Theory"]]>I haven’t done a media-linked theme for a while, so I thought I’d offer these books for this week, which I think will all appeal to fans of The Big Bang Theory. Each has that geek chic vibe and humour (the top two are more laugh-out-loud than the lower two, but all have some), and has something to say about different types of people getting along.

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

The last theme posted was International Women’s Day. I make some links thematic, some topical, some more English-y. Please do let me know if you have ideas/suggestions/requests for future possible links.

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-23-for-fans-of-the-big-bang-theory/feed/11977http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-23-for-fans-of-the-big-bang-theory/Reading Recommendations Slide 22: International Women’s Dayhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/xfP0B8EL2g0/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-22-international-womens-day/#commentsSun, 04 Mar 2018 22:40:50 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1973Continue reading "Reading Recommendations Slide 22: International Women’s Day"]]>These books all offer something relevant for International Women’s Day this week (March 8th). Buffalo Soldier and Things a Bright Girl Can Do both provide historical perspective on the position of women, while Asking For It and What’s A Girl Gotta Do? are both focused on the contemporary situation. Asking For It is suitable for older students as its discussion of rape is fairly brutal at times (although as Emma doesn’t remember the incident, there isn’t a description of the event as such. I wouldn’t personally give this one to yr10 and below though as the ideas are mature).

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

These books all borrow from fairy tales, folklore or existing classic stories as their source material. This is a genre of its own with plenty to choose from. (I’m particularly looking forward to Louise O’Neill’s take on The Little Mermaid, The Surface Breaks, due out in May – bound to be an interesting feminist re-interpretation of that problematic story…)

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

The last theme posted was friendship. I make some links thematic, some topical, some more English-y. Please do let me know if you have ideas/suggestions/requests for future possible links. (Next week I’ve got a nice set ready for International Women’s Day)

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-21-fairy-tales/feed/11966http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-21-fairy-tales/Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton: February’s Book of the Month in-depth – review and a writing activity adaptable for KS3-5http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/h3Ok7b3iPbk/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/rebel-of-the-sands-by-alwyn-hamilton-februarys-book-of-the-month-in-depth-review-and-a-writing-activity-adaptable-for-ks3-5/#respondSun, 25 Feb 2018 18:40:22 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1964Continue reading "Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton: February’s Book of the Month in-depth – review and a writing activity adaptable for KS3-5"]]>Age range: YA (12+)

Themes: identity, diversity/ethnicity/race, protest & politics

Genre: fantasy + western

Narrative style: first-person past tense with plenty of pace and an engaging voice with plenty of ‘sass’ and wit. It’s really easy to root for Amani as she tries desperately to escape her situation by dressing as a boy and entering a shooting competition.

It’s great that she is a skilled shooter and can be admired for that, but she does have weaknesses to engage our sympathy too and her world is all too ready to dismiss her as ‘just’ a girl. With the imaginative combination of the Western setting and the magical 1001 Nights tales as a folkloric backdrop, there is plenty here to get involved in.

Ask students to examine the opening for the different jobs that it is fulfilling. They could highlight sentences in different colours to show this. For example, looking at information that helps:

establish setting

establish character

This can be further complicated by labelling the techniques used.

A more interesting/complex exercise for older/more advanced students might explore how Amani’s voice is created using a combination of words and phrases (lexis/register) and sentence structure (syntax), further considering how the information chosen to be provided to the reader through Amani helps characterise her by showing her attitudes to those topics. Again, different colour highlighters could be used for lexical vs syntactical techniques with the labels and subject-based comments written on around the text.

This analytical work can then feed into writing of the students’ own, where they introduce a character/setting/situation with attention to the same issues. A scenario could be provided for them, or they could be invited to come up with their own. Some possibilities include:

An already-known character from a fairytale/folktale but not the central character (e.g. telling Red Riding Hood from the Huntsman’s perspective)

An ‘outsider’ character in a dangerous situation

A young person readying themselves to do something difficult (a test, delivering some difficult news, telling a friend a tough secret)

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/rebel-of-the-sands-by-alwyn-hamilton-februarys-book-of-the-month-in-depth-review-and-a-writing-activity-adaptable-for-ks3-5/feed/01964http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/rebel-of-the-sands-by-alwyn-hamilton-februarys-book-of-the-month-in-depth-review-and-a-writing-activity-adaptable-for-ks3-5/Reading Recommendations Slide 20: Friendshiphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/Xgw6sH5An2Q/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-20-friendship/#commentsSun, 18 Feb 2018 22:16:04 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1957Continue reading "Reading Recommendations Slide 20: Friendship"]]> These books all share fabulous representation of friendships – whether those friendships pre-exist before the story or are formed through the story.

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.

The last theme posted was genre-twisting/unusual reads. I make some links thematic, some topical, some more English-y. Please do let me know if you have ideas/suggestions/requests for future possible links.

]]>http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-20-friendship/feed/11957http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-20-friendship/Reading Recommendations Slide 19: Genre Busters/Something Different 2http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BethKempReadingTeacher/~3/_tlV_kfWzl8/
http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/reading-recommendations-slide-19-genre-busters-something-different-2/#commentsSun, 04 Feb 2018 16:29:22 +0000http://www.hearthfire.bethkemp.co.uk/?p=1950Continue reading "Reading Recommendations Slide 19: Genre Busters/Something Different 2"]]>These two are great reads and both defy genre descriptions in different ways. I’ve included a bit more description of the actual plot/book on the slide than normal, to try to pique students’ interest.

More of Me reads a lot of the time like a Contemporary YA, with concerns about friends and family, but has a weird Sci-Fi twist with this dividing-self thing and a strong dash of Mystery as Teva is trying to figure out what on earth is happening to her and how she can live the most normal life possible.

Midwinterblood is a sweeping, epic tale that takes in seven lifetimes crossing from pre-Christian times into the future, so spans from an Epic or High Fantasy setting into a Sci-Fi world, all the time with this link in that the characters are the same souls in different people, linked in different ways, so there’s Romance or even Saga in there too, plus some creepy Supernatural vibes.

Both are brilliant, and somewhat experimental in their own ways, and fab for students who don’t like anything that fits the normal genre boxes, whether they’ve torn through everything already, or won’t try anything because it sounds boring…

I pop these recommendation slides up while I take KS4 and 5 registers (if I had yr9 classes, I’d use them there too) and allow students to read the info and decide whether they want to find any of these books. It’s a key one of my attempts to widen their reading and help them find books they might enjoy as there are certainly plenty of those out there, and the curriculum doesn’t always make it easy for us to present students with a pleasurable reading experience.